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Hello - I'm a biologist w/MD DNR's Natural Heritage Program. Matt was kind enough to forward the porcupine info to DNR which made its way to my inbox. Below is my response to Matt which includes some info regarding it's potential significance that may be of interest to y'all. I have since heard from Matt et al. about the xmas tree truck hypothesis - I like it! At this point, it's as plausible of an explanation as any. Thanks again to Nancy and Matt for documenting this record.

Jim
On Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 9:24 AM, Spencer, Tracey wrote:

Hi Matt – we occasionally get some really interesting observations of wildlife but this has to go down as one of the most remarkable! Assuming the animal got there on its own (more on that below), your observations represent a truly extraordinary, extralimital record for porcupine and, as far as I know, the first ever from the Delmarva Peninsula. While porcupine sightings in Maryland (as well as in PA, NJ and WV) are clearly on the rise in recent years, I’m not aware of any recent records east of Washington County. Even historically, with the exception of a single, vague pre-1881 report from Howard County, this is a species that has long been confined to the state’s four westernmost counties (Frederick County west).

So now I’m left scratching my head and wondering, as I’m sure you have been, how did it end up in Kent Co.? Is this northern/Appalachian species expanding its range to such an extent that it is now occurs on the coastal plain? Has a small population taken up residence south of the C&D canal? Or was this just a fluke, an isolated dead-end dispersal event? In Pennsylvania, porkies have recently been expanding their range southwestward and southeastward, beyond the mountainous regions of the state. In the southeastern part of PA, porcupines have been documented in Adams, York, Dauphin and even Lancaster County. I’m still looking into the southern extent of their distribution in New Jersey but there are no published or on-line records from the southernmost counties. So at this point, Lancaster County, PA may be the nearest known locality. That’s at least 60-70 miles away. That would be quite a hike for a species that moves at the speed of a small toddler and typically has a home range of

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